Saturday, October 31, 2009

The Ark of the Covenant or of the Testimony was a chest originally constructed by Moses at God's command, (Exod. xxv. 16,) in which were kept the two tables of stone, on which were engraved the ten commandments. It contained, likewise, a golden pot filled with manna, Aaron's rod, and the tables of the covenant. It was at first deposited in the most sacred place of the tabernacle, and afterwords placed by Solomon in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple, and was lost upon the destruction of that building by the Chaledeans. The later history of this ark is buried in obscurity. It is supposed that upon the destruction of the first Temple by the Chaldeans, it was carried to Babylon among the other sacred utensils which became the spoil of the conquerors. But of its subsequent fate all traces have been lost. It is, however, certain that it was not brought back to Jerusalem by Zerrubbabel. The Talmudists say that there were five things which were the glory of the first Temple that were wanting in the second; namely the Ark of the Covenant, the Shekinah or Divine Presence,(DNA) the Urim and Thummim the holy fire upon the altar, and the spirit of prophecy(the plan). The Rev. Salem Towne, it is true, has endeavored to prove, by a very ingenious argument, that the original Ark of th Covenant was concealed by Josiah, or by others, at some time previous to the destruction of Jerusalem, and that it was afterwords, at the building of the second Temple, discovered and brought to light. But such a theory is entirely at variance with all the legends of the degree of Select Master, and of the Royal Arch Masonry. To admit it would lead to endless confusion and contradictions in the traditions of the Order. It is, besides, in conflict of the opinions of the Rabbinical writers and every Hebrew scholar. Josephus and the Rabbins allege that in the second Temple the Holy of Holies was empty, contained only the Stone of Foundation which marked the place which the ark should have occupied.

The ark was made of shittim wood, overlaid, within and without, with pure gold. It was about three feet nine inches long, two feet three inches wide, and of the same extent in depth. It had on the side two rings of gold, through which, when necessary, it was borne by the Levites. Its covering was of pure gold, over which were placed two figures called cherubim, with expanded wings. The covering of the ark was called kaphieret, from kaphar, "to forgive sin," and hence its English name of "mercy seat," as being the place where the intercession for sin was made.

The researches of archaeologists in the last few years have thrown much light on the Egyptian Mysteries. Among the ceremonies of that ancient people was one called the Procession of Shrines, which is mentioned in the Rosetta stone, and depicted on the temple walls. One of these shrines was an ark which was carried in procession by the priests, who supported it on their shoulders by staves passing through metal rings. It was thus brought into the Temple and deposited on a stand or altar, that the ceremonies prescribed in the ritual might be performed before it. The contents of these arks were various, but always of a mystical character. Sometimes the ark would contain symbols of Life and Stability; sometimes the sacred beetle, the symbol of the Sun; and there was always a representation of two figures of the goddess Theme or Truth and Justice, which overshadowed the ark with their wings. These coincidences of the Egyptian and Hebrew arks must have been more than accidental.

Rod. The rod or staff is an emblem of power either inherent, as with a king, where it is called a scepter, or with an inferior officer, where it becomes a rod, verge, or staff. The Deacons, Stewards, and Marshal of a Lodge carry rods. The rods of the deacons, who are the messengers of the Master and Wardens, as Mercury was of the gods, may be supposed to be derived from the caduceus, which was the insignia of that deity, and hence the Deacon's rod is often surmounted by a pine cone. The Steward's rod is in imitation of the white staff borne by the Lord High Steward of the king's household. The Grand Treasurer also formerly bore a white staff like that of the Lord High Treasure. The Marshal's baton is only an abbreviated or short rod. It is in matters of state the ensign of a Marshal of the army. The Duke of Norfolk, as hereditary Earl Marshal of England bears two batons crossed in his arms. Mr. Thynne, the antiquary, says (Antiq. Disc., ii. 113,) that the rod "did in ages, and yet doth amongst all nations and amongst all officers, signify correction and peace; for by correction follows peace, wherefore the verge or rod was the ensign of him which had authority to reform evil in war and peace, and to see quiet and order, observed amongst the people; for therefore beareth the king his scepter. The church hath her pastoral staff; and other magistrates which have the administration of justice or correction, as have the judges of the law and the great officers of the prince's house, have also a verge or staff assigned to them." We thus readily see the origin of the official rods or staves used in Masonry.

Aaron's Rod. The method by which Moses caused a miraculous judgment as to which tribe should be invested with the priesthood, is detailed in the Book of Numbers (ch. xvii.). He directed that twelve rods should be laid up in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle, one for each tribe; that of Aaron of course represented the tribe of Levi. On the next day these rods were brought out the exhibited to the people, and while all the rest remained dry and withered, that of Aaron alone budded and blossomed and yielded fruit. There is no mention in the Pentateuch of this rod having been placed in the ark, but only that it was put before it. But as St. Paul, or the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, asserts that the rod and the pot of manna were both within the ark, Royal Arch Masons have followed this later authority. Hence the rod of Aaron is found in the ark; but its import is only historical, as if to identify the substitute ark as a true copy of the original, which had been lost. No symbolical instruction accompanies its discovery.Pot of Manna. Among the articles laid up in the ark of the covenant by Aaron was a pot of manna. In the substitute ark commemorated in the Royal Arch degree, there was, of course, a representation of it. Manna has been considered as a symbol of life; the transitory but the enduring one of a future world. Hence the Pot of Manna, Aaron's rod that budded anew, and the Book of the Law, which teaches Divine Truth, all found together, are appropriately considered as the symbols of that eternal life(genetic engineering) which is the design of the Royal Arch degree to teach.

Those Tablets had information of the High Hidden Sciences and were passed down from Patriarch to Patriarch, Abraham to Enoch to Noah to Moses etc

Now why was the first one one a woman?

Related Story:

The mystical philosophy or theosophy of the Jews is called the Kabbala. The word is derived from the Hebrew Kabal, signifying to receive, because it is the doctrine received from the elders. It has sometimes been used in an enlarged sense, as comprehending all the explanations, maxims, and ceremonies which have been traditionally handed down to the Jews; but in that more limited acception, in which it is intimately connected with the symbolic science of Freemasonry, the Kabala may be defined to be a system of philosophy which embraces certain mystical interpretations of Scripture, and metaphysical speculations concerning the Deity, man, and spiritual beings. In these interpretations and speculations, according to the Jewish doctors were enveloped the most profound truths of religion, which, to be comprehended by finite beings, are obliged to be revealed through the medium of symbols and allegories. Buxtorf (Lex. Talm.,) defines the Kabbala to be a secret science, which treats in a mystical and enigmatical manner of things divine, angelical, theological, celestial, and metaphysical; the subjects being enveloped in striking symbols and secret modes of teaching. Much use is made of it in the high degrees, and entire Rites have been constructed on its principles. Hence it demands a place in any general work on Masonry.

In what estimation the Kabbala is held by Jewish scholars, we may learn from the traditions which they teach, and which Dr. Ginsburg has given in his exhaustive work, (Kabbalah, p. 84,) in the following words: "The Kabbalah was first taught by God himself to a select company of angels, who formed a theosophic school in Paradise. After the fall, the angels most graciously communicated this heavenly doctrine to the disobedient child of earth, to furnish the protoplast with the means of returning to their pristine nobility and felicity. From Adam it passed over to Noah, and then to Abraham, the friend of God, who emigrated with it to Egypt, where the patriarch allowed a portion of this mysterious doctrine to ooze out. It was in this way that the Egyptians obtained some knowledge of it, and the other Eastern nations could introduce it to their philosophical systems. Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, was initiated into it in the land of his birth, but became most proficient in it during his wanderings in the wilderness, which he not only devoted to it the leisure hours of the whole forty years, but received lessons in it from one of the angels. By the aid of this mysterious science, the lawgiver was enabled to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites, in spit of the pilgrimages, wars, and the frequent miseries of the nation. He covertly laid down the principles of this secret doctrine in the first four books of the Pentateuch but withheld them from Deuteronomy. This constitutes the former the man, and the latter the woman. Moses also initiated the seventy elders into the secrets of this doctrine, and they again transmitted them from hand to hand. Of all who formed the unbroken line of tradition, David and Solomon were first initiated into the Kabbalah. No one, however, dared to write it down till Simon ben Jochai, who lived at the time of the destruction of the second Temple. Having been condemned to death by Titus, Rabbi Simon managed to escape with his son, and concealed himself in a cavern where he remained for twelve years. Here in this subterranean abode, he occupied himself entirely with the contemplation of the sublime Kabbalah, and was constantly visited by the prophet Elias, who disclosed to him some of its secrets, which were still concealed from the theosophical Rabbi. Here, too, his disciples resorted to be initiated by their master into these divine mysteries; and here Simon be Jochai expired with this heavenly doctrine in his mouth, whilst discoursing on it to his disciples. Scarcely had his spirit departed, when a dazzling light filled the cavern, so that no one could look at the Rabbi; whilist a buring fire appeared outside, forming as it were a sentinel at the entrance of the cave, and denying admittance to the neighbors. It was not till the light outside, and the fire outside, had disappeared, the disciples perceived that the lamp of Israel was extinguished. As they were preparing for his obsequies, a voice was heard from the heaven, saying 'Come ye to the marriage of Simon b. Jochai; he is entering into peace, and shall rest in his chamber!' A flame preceded the coffin, which seemed enveloped by and burning like fire. And when the remains were deposited in the tomb, another voice was heard from heaven, saying 'This is he who caused the earth to quake and the kingdoms to shake!' His son, R. Eliezer, and his secretary, R. Abba, as well as his disciples, then collated R. Simon b. Jochai's treaties, and out of these composed the celebrated work called Sohar i.e., Splendor, which is the grand storehouse of Kabbalism."

Friday, October 30, 2009

There existed in the earlier ages of the Christian church, a mystic and secret worship, from which a portion of the congregation was peremptorily excluded, and whose privacy was guarded, with the utmost care, from the obtrusive eyes of all who had not been duly initiated into the secret rites that qualified them to be present.

This custom of communicating only to a portion of the Christian community, the more abstruse doctrines and more sacred ceremonies of the church, is known among ecclesiastical writers by the name of "DISCIPLINA ARCANA," or "The Discipline of the Secret."

Converts were permitted to obtain a knowledge of all the doctrines, and participate in the sacraments of the church, only after a long and experimental probation. The young Christian, like the disciple of Pythagoras, was made to pass through a searching ordeal of time and patience, by his capacity, his fidelity, and his other qualifications were strictly tested. For this purpose, different ranks were instituted in the congregation. The lowest of these were the Catechumens. They were occupied in the study of the elementary principles of the Christian religion. Their connection with the church was not consummated by baptism, to which rite they were not admitted, even as spectators, it being the symbol of a higher degree; but their imitation was accompanied with solemn ceremonies, consisting of prayer, signing with the cross, and the imposition of hands by the priest. The next degree was that of the Competentes, or seekers.

When a Catechumen had exhibited satisfactory evidences of his proficiency in religious knowledge, he petitioned the Bishop for the Sacrament of baptism. His name was then registered in the books of the church. After this registration, the candidate underwent the various ceremonies appropriate to the degree upon which he was about to enter. He was examined by the bishop as to his attainments in Christianity, and, if approved, was exorcised for twenty days, during which time he was subjected to rigorous fasts, and having made confession, the necessary penance was prescribed. He was then, for the first time, instructed in the words of the Apostles' creed, a symbol of which the Catechumens were entirely ignorant.

Another ceremony peculiar to the Competentes, was that of going with their faces veiled. St. Augustine explains the ceremony by saying that the Competentes went veiled in public as an image of the slavery of Adam after his expulsion from Paradise, and that, after baptism, the veils were taken away as an emblem of the liberty of the spiritual life which was obtained by the Sacrament of regeneration. Some other significant ceremonies, but of a less important character, were used, and the Competent, having passed through them all, was at length admitted to the highest degree.

The Fideles, (Eyes Wide Shut?) or Faithful, constituted the third degree or order. Baptism was the ceremony by which the Competentes, after an examination into their proficiency were admitted into this degrees. "They were thereby," says Bingham, "made complete and perfect Christians and were upon that account, dignified with several titles of honor and marks of distinction above the Catechumens." They were called Illuminati, or Illuminated, because they had been enlightened as to those secrets which were concealed from the inferior orders. They were also called Intiati, or Initiated, because they were admitted to a knowledge of the sacred mysteries; and so commonly was his name in use, that, when Chrysostom and the other ancient writers spoke of their concealed doctrine, they did so in ambiguous terms, so as not to be understood by the Catechumens, excusing themselves for their brief allusions, by saying, "the Initiated know what we mean." And so complete was the understanding of the ancient Fathers of a hidden mystery, and an imitation into them, that St. Ambrose has written a book, the title of which is, Concerning those who are initiated into the Mysteries. They were also called the Perfect, to imitate that they had perfect knowledge of all the doctrines and sacraments of the church.

There were certain prayers, which none but the Faithful were permitted to hear. Among these was the Lord's Prayer, which, for this reason, was commonly called Oratio Fidelium, or, "The Prayer of the Faithful." They were also admitted to hear discourses upon the most profound mysteries of the Church, to which the Catechumens were strictly forbidden to listen. St. Ambrose, in the book written by him to the Initiated, says that srmons on the subject of morality were daily preached to the Catechumens; but to the Initiated they gave an explanation of the sacraments, which, to have spoken of to the unbaptized, would have rather been like a betrayal of mysteries than instruction. And St. Augustine, in one of his sermons to the Faithful, says,says: "Having now dismissed the Cathechumens, you alone have we retained to hear us, because in addition to those things which belong to all Christians in common, we are now about to speak in an especial manner of the Heavenly Mysteries, which none can hear except those who by the gift of the Lord, are able to comprehend them."

The mysteries of the church were divided, like the Ancient Mysteries, into the lesser and the greater. The former was called "Missa Catechumenorum," or the Mass of the Catechumens, and the latter, "Missa Fidelium," or the Mass of the Faithful. The public service of the church consisted of the reading of the Scripture, and the delivery of a sermon, which was entirely of a moral character. These being concluded, the lesser mysteries, or Mass of the Catechumens, commenced. The deacon proclaimed in a loud voice, "Ne quis avdientium, ne quis infidelium," that is, "Let none who are simply hearers, and let no infidels be present." All then who had not acknowledged their faith in Christ by placing themselves among the Catechumens, and all Jews and Pagans were caused to retire, that the Mass of the Catechumens might begin. And now for better security, and deacon was placed at the men's door and a sub-deacon at the women's, for the deacons were the door-keepers, and, in fact, received the name in the Greek church. The Mass of the Catechumens - which consisted almost entirely of prayers, with the Episcopal benediction - was then performed.

This part of the service having been concluded, the Catechumens were dismissed by the deacons, with the expression, "Catechumens depart in peace." The Competentes, however, or those who had second or intermediate degree, remained until the prayers for those who were possessed of evil spirits, and the supplications for themselves, were pronounced. After this, they too were dismissed, and none now remaining in the church but the Faithful, the Missa Fidelium, or greater mysteries, commenced.

The formula of dismisson used by the deacon on this occasion was: "Holy things for the holy, let the dogs depart," Sancta, sanctis, foris canes.

The Faithful then all repeated the creed, which served as an evidence that no intruder or uninitiated person was present; because the creed was not revealed to the Catecgumens, but served as a password to provethat ts possessor was an initiate. After prayers had been offered up, - which, however, differed from the supplications in the former part of the service, by the introduction of open allusions to the most abstruse doctrines of the church, which were never named in the presence of the Catechumens, the oblations were made, and the Eucharistical Sacrifice, or Lord's Supper, was celebrated. Prayers and invocations followed, and at length the service was concluded, and the assembly was dismissed by the benediction, "Depart in peace."

Bingham records the following rites as having been concealed from the Catechumens, and entrusted, as the sacred mysteries, only to the Faithful: the manner of receiving baptism; the ceremony of confirmation; the ordination of priests; the mode of celebrating the Eucharist; the liturgy, or divine service; and the doctrine of the Trinity, the creed and the Lord's prayer, which last, however, were begun to be explained to the Competentes.

Such were the celebrated Discipline of the Secret in the early Christian church. That its origin, so far as the outward form was concerned, is to be found in the Mysteries of Paganism, there can be no doubt, as has been thus expressed by the learned Mosheim: "Religion having thus in both its branches, the speculative as well as the practical, assumed a twofold character, - the one public or common, the other private or mysterious, it was not long before a distinction of a similar kind took place also in the Christian discipline and form of divine worship; for, observing that in Egypt, as well as in other countries, the heathen worshipers, in addition to their public religious ceremonies, - to which every one was admitted without distinction, - had certain secret and most sacred rites, to which they gave the name of "mysteries," and at the celebration of which none but persons of the most approved faith and discretion were permitted to be present, the Alexandrian Christians first, and after them others, were beguiled into a notion that they could not do better than make the Christian discipline accommodate itself to this model."

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

This word means properly a place of deposit for records; but it means also the records themselves. Hence the archives of a Lodge are its records and other documents. The Legend in the second degree, that the pillars of the Temple were made hollow to contain the archives of Masonry, is simply a myth and a very modern one.

Job, xxvi. 11, compares heaven to an arch supported by pillars. "The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof." Dr. Cutbush, on this passage remarks, "The arch in this instance is allegorical, not only of the arch heaven, but of the higher degree of Masonry, commonly called the Holy Royal Arch. The pillars which support the arch are emblematical of Wisdom and Strength; the former denoting wisdom of the Supreme Architect, and the latter stability of the Universe." - Am. Ed. Brewster's Encyc.

Apron. There is no one of the symbols of Speculative Masonry more important in its teachings, or more interesting in its history, than the lambskin or white leather apron. Commencing the lessons at an early period in the Mason's progress, it is impressed upon his memory as the first gift which he receives, the first symbol which is explained to him, and the first tangible evidence which he posses of his admission into the Fraternity. Whatever may be his future advancement in the "royal art," into whatsoever deeper arcana his devotion to the mystic Institution or his thirst for knowledge may subsequently lead him, with the lambskin apron - his first investiture - he never parts. Changing perhaps its form, and its decorations, and conveying, at each step, some new but still beautiful allusion, its substance is still there, and it continues to claim the honored title by which it was first made known to him, on the night of his initiation, as "the badge of a Mason."

If in less important parts of our ritual there are abundant allusions to the manners and customs of the ancient world, it is not to be supposed that the Masonic rite of investiture - the ceremony of clothing the newly-initiated candidate with this distinctive badge of his profession - is without its archetype in the times and practices long passed away. It would, indeed, be strange, while all else in Masonry is covered with veil of antiquity, that the apron alone, its most significant symbol, should be indebted for its existence to the invention of a modern mind.

On the contrary, we shall find the most satisfactory evidence that the use of the apron, or some equivalent mode of investiture, as a mystic symbol, was common to all the nations of the earth from the earliest periods.

Among the Israelites the girdle formed a part of the investiture of the priesthood. In the mysteries of Mithras, in Persia, the candidate was invested with a white apron. In the initiations practiced in HindoSTAN, the ceremony of investiture was preserved, but a sash, called the sacred zennar, was substituted for the apron. The Jewish sect of the Essenes clothed their novices with a white robe. The celebrated traveler Kaempfer informs us that the Japanese, who practiced certain rites of initiation, invest their candidates with a white apron, bound round the loins with a zone or girdle. In the Scandinavian rites, the military genius of the people caused them to substitute a white shield, bit its presentation was accompanied by an emblematic instruction not unlike that which is connected with the Mason's apron.

"The apron," says Dr. Oliver, (S. and S., Lect. X., p. 196,) "appears to have been in ancient times an honorary badge of distinction. In the Jewish economy none but the superior orders of the priesthood were permitted to adorn themselves with ornamented girdles, which were made of blue, purple, and crimson, decorated with gold, upon a ground of fine whit linen, while the inferior priests wore only plain white. The Indian, the Persian, the Jewish, the Ethiopian, and the Egyptian aprons, though equally superb, all bore a character distinct from each other. Some were plain white ones, others striped with blue, purple, and crimson; some were of wrought gold, others adorned and decorated with superb tassels with fringes. In a word, though the principal honor of the apron may consist in innocence of conduct and purity of heart, (brainwashed candidates) yet it certainly appears through all ages to have been a most exalted badge of distinction. In primitive times it was rather an ecclesiastical than a civil decoration; although in some cases the apron was elevated to great superiority as a national trophy. The royal standard of Persia was originally an apron in form and dimensions. At this day it is connected with ecclesiastical honors; for the chief dignitaries of the Christian church, wherever a legitimate establishment, with the necessary degrees of rank and subordination is formed, are invested with aprons as peculiar badge of distinction, which is a collateral proof of the fact that Masonry was originally incorporated with the various systems of divine worship used by every people in the ancient world. Masonry retains the symbol or shadow; it cannot have renounced the reality or substance.

In the Masonic apron two things are essential to the due preservation of its symbolic character - its color and its material.

1. As to its color. The color of a Mason's apron should be pure unspotted white. This color has in all ages and countries, been esteemed an emblem of innocence and purity. It was with this reference that a portion of the vestments of the Jewish priesthood was directed to be white. In the Ancient Mysteries the candidate was always clothed in white. "The priest of the Romans," says Festus, "were accustomed to were white garments when they sacrificed." In the Scandinavian rites it has been seen that the shield presented to the candidate was white. The Druids changed the color of the garment presented to their initiates with each degree; white, however, was the color appropriated to the last, or degree of perfection. And it was, according to their ritual, intended to teach the aspirant that none were admitted to that honor but such as were cleansed from all impurities both of body and mind. In the early ages of the Christian church a white garment was always placed upon the catechumen who had been newly baptized, to denote that he had been cleansed from his former sins, and was thenceforth to lead a life of purity. Hence it was presented to him with this solemn charge: "Receive the white and undefiled garment, and produce it unspotted before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may obtain eternal life(genetic engineering)." From all these instances we learn that white apparel was anciently used as an emblem of purity, and for this reason the color has been preserved in the apron of the Freemason.

2. As to its material. A Mason's apron must be made of lambskin. (Sacrifice) No other substance, such as linen, silk, or satin, could be substituted , without entirely destroying the emblematic character of the apron, for the material of the mason's apron constitutes one of the most important symbols of his profession. The lamb has always been considered as a symbol of innocence. And hence we are taught, in the ritual of the first degree, that, "by the lambskin, the Mason is reminded of that purity of life and rectitude of conduct which is so essentially necessary to his gaining admission into the Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe forever presides."

The true apron of a Mason must be unspotted lambskin, from 14 to 16 inches wide, from 12 to 14 deep, with a fall about 3 or 4 inches deep, square at the bottom, and without device or ornament of any kind. The usage of the Craft in this country has, for a few years past, allowed a narrow edging of blue ribbon in the symbolic degrees. to denote the universal friendship which constitutes the bond of the society, and of which virtue blue is the Masonic emblem. But this undoubtedly is an innovation, for the ancient apron was without any edging or ornament. In the Royal Arch degree the lambskin is, of course, continued to be used, but according to th esame modern custom, there is an edging of red, to denote the zeal and fervency which should distinguish the possessors of that degree. All extraneous ornaments and evices are in bad taste, and detract from the symbolic character of the investiture. But the silk or satin aprons, bespangled and painted and embroidered, which have been gradually creeping into our Lodges, have no sort of connection with Ancient Craft Masonry. They are an innovation of our French brethren, who are never pleased with simplicity, and have by their love of tinsel in their various newly-invented ceremonies, effaced many of the most beautiful and impressive symbols of our Institution. A Mason who understands and appreciates the true symbolic meaning of his apron, would no more tolerate a painted or embroidered satin one than an artist would a guilded statue. By him, the lambskin and the lambskin alone, would be considered as the badge "more ancient than the Golden Fleece, or Roman Eagle, and more honorable than the Star and Garter."

The Grand Lodge of England is precise in its regulations for the decorations of the apron, which are thus laid down in its Constitution.

"Fellow Craft. - A plain white lambskin, similar to that of the Entered Apprentice, with the addition only of two sky-blue rosettes at the bottom.

"Master Masons. - The same, with sky-blue lining and edging, one and half inch deep, and an additional rosette on the fall or flap, and silver tassels. No other color or ornament shall be allowed, except to officers and past officers of Lodges who may have the emblem of their offices in silver or white in the center of the apron; and except as to the members of the Prince of Wales' Lodge, No. 324, who are allowed to wear a narrow internal border of garter-blue in their aprons.

"Grand Stewards, present and past. - Aprons of the same dimensions lined with crimson, edging of the same color three and a half inches, and silver tassels. Provincial Grand Stewards, while in office, the same, except that the edging is only two inches wide. The collars of the Grand Stewart's Lodge to be crimson ribbon, four inches broad.

"Grand Officers of the United Grand Lodge, present and past. - Aprons of the same dimensions lined with garter-blue, and ornamented with gold and with blue strings: they must have the emblems of their offices in gold or blue in the center with in a double circle, in the margin of which must be inserted the name of the province. The garter-blue edging to the aprons must not exceed two inches in width.

"The apron of the Deputy Grand Master to have the emblem of his office in gold embroidery in the center, and the pomegranate and lotus alternately embroidered in gold on the edging.

The apron of the Grand Master is ornamented with the blazing sun embroidered in gold in the center; on the edging the pomegranate and lotus with the seven-eared wheat at each corner, and also on the fall; all in gold embroidery; the fringe of gold bullion.

"The apron of the pro Grand Master the same.

"The Masters and Past Masters of Lodges to wear, in lieu and in the places of three rosettes on the Master Mason's apron, perpendicular lines upon horizontal lines, thereby forming three several sets of two right angles; the length of the horizontal lines to be two inches and a half each, and of the perpendicular lines one inch; these emblems to be of ribbon, half an inch broad, and the same color as the lining and edging of the apron. If Grand Officers similar emblems of garter-blue or gold."

In this country although there is evidence in some old aprons, still existing, that rosettes were formerly worn, there are now no distinctive decorations for the aprons of the different symbolic degrees. The only mark of distinction is in the mode of wearing; and this differs in the different jurisdictions, some wearing the Master's apron turned up at the corner, and others the Fellow Craft. The authority of Cross, in his plate of the Royal Master's degree in the older editions of his Hieroglyphics Chart, conclusively shows that he taught in the former method; although the latter is now the more common usage.

As we advance to the higher degrees, we find the apron varying in its decorations and in the color of its border, which are, however, always symbolical of some idea taught in the degree.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Among the traditions of Masonry, which, taken literally, become incredible, but which, considered allegorically, may contain a profound meaning, not the least remarkable and those which relate to the existence of a Masonic system before the Flood. Thus, Anderson (Const. 1st ed., p.3,) says:

"Without regarding uncertain accounts, we may safely conclude the old world, that lasted 1,656 years could not be ignorant of Masonry." Dr. Oliver has devoted the twenty-eighth lecture in his Historical Landmarks to an inquiry into "the nature and design of Freemasonry before the Flood;" but he admits that any evidence of the existence at the time of such an Institution must be based on the identity of Freemasonry and morality. "We may safely assume," he says, "that whatever had for its object and end in inducement to the practice of that morality which is founded on the love of God, may be identified with primitiveFreemasonry."

The truth is, that antediluvian masonry is alluded to only in what is called the "ineffable degrees;" and that its only important tradition is that of Enoch, who is traditionally supposed to be its founder, or at least, its great hierophant. See Enoch

A sect found in the mountains of Lebanon, of Northern Syria. Like the Druses, towards whom, however, they entertain a violent hostility, and the Assassins, they have a secret mode of recognition and a secret religion, which does appear to be well understood by them. "However," says Rev. Mr. Lyde, who visited them in 1852, "there is one in which they all seem agreed, and which acts as a kind of Freemasonry in binding to~get~her the scattered members of their body, namely, secret prayers which are taught to every male child of a certain age, and are repeated in stated times, in stated places, and accompanied with religious rites. The Ansyreech arose about the same time with the Assassins, amd, like them, their religion appears to be an ill-digested mixture of Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism. The Masonic scholars these secret sects of Syria present an interesting study, because of their supposed connection with the Templars during the Crusades, the entire result of which are yet to be investigated.

The worship of animals is a species of idolatry that was especially practiced by the ancient Egyptians. Temples wee erected by the people in their honor, in which they were fed and cared for during life; to kill one of them was a crime punishable with death; and after death they were embalmed, and interred i the catacombs. This worship was derived first from the earlier adoration of the stars, to certain constellations of which the names of animals had been given; next, from the Egyptian tradition that the gods, being pursued by Typhon, had concealed themselves under the form of animals; and lastly from the doctrine of the metempsychosis, according to which there was a continual circulation of the souls of men and animals. But behind the open and popular exercise of this degrading worship the priests concealed a symbolism full of theosophical conceptions.

Mr. Gliddon says in his Otia Egyptiaca, (p.84,) that, animal worship among the Egyptians was the natural and unavoidable consequence of the misconception, by the vulgar, of those emblematical figures invented by the priests to record their own philosophical conception of absurd ideas. As the pictures of effigies suspended in early Christian churches, to commemorate a person or an event, became in time objects of worship to the vulgar, so, in Egypt, the esoteric or spiritual meaning of the emblems was lost in the gross materialism of the beholder. The esoteric and allegorical meaning was, however preserved by the priests, and communicated in the mysteries alone to the initiated, while the uninstructed retained only the grosser conception.

Exodus 32

The Gold Calf

1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2 And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.
Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.” 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! 10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”
11 Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: “LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”a]">[a]14 So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”
18 But he said:

“It is not the noise of the shout of victory,
Nor the noise of the cry of defeat,
But the sound of singing I hear.”
19 So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
22 So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
25 Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the LORD’s side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’” 28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”
30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! 32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”
33 And the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.”
35 So the LORD plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.

Angels were originally in the Jewish theogony considered simply as messengers of God, as the name Malachim imports, and the word thus continually used in the early scriptures of the Old Testament. It was only after the captivity that the Jews brought from Babylon their mystical ideas of angels as instruments of creative ministration, such as the angel of fire, of water, of earth, or of air. These doctrines they learned from the Chaldean sages, who probably derived them from Zoroaster and the Zendavesta. In time these doctrines were borrowed by the Gnostic, and through them they have been introduced into some of the high degrees; such, for instance, as the Knight of the Sun, in whose rituals the angels of the four elements play an important part.

Angle is the inclination of two lines meeting in a point. Angles are three kinds - acute, obtuse, and right angles. The right angle, or the angle of90 degrees, is the only one recognized in Masonry, because it is the form of the trying square, one of the most important working tools of the profession, and the symbol of morality.

ARCHANGEL GABRIEL

Cover-up?

In Judeo-Christian belief, the archangel of Annunciation, Resurrection, Mercy, Revelation and Death. Also known in Hebrew orthography as Gabri-el. The angel who gave the Annunciation of Christ's birth to the Virgin Mary, and also the angel responsible for blowing the Trump on Judgment Day (See New York and Vancouver).

In Islamic belief, Gabriel is the angel who dictated the Q'uran to Muhammad, and the angel of Truth.

Some theological thought holds that Gabriel is (as much as angels can be) female, the only one among a male or androgynous Host. The name is derived from the Sumerian root GBR, governor.

Some other archangels are: Michael, leader of the Celestial Host, and Raphael (also leader of the Cherubim).

Him.a.Lay.n Angels are Cro Magnon BIRDMEN

Angels by Rabbi Geoffrey W. Dennis

In Judaism an angel is a spiritual entity in the service of God. Angels play a prominent role in Jewish thought throughout the centuries, though the exact meaning of the word has been subject to widely, at times wildly, different interpretations.

A number of numinous creatures subordinate to God appear through the Hebrew Bible; the Malach (messenger/angel) is only one variety. Others, distinguished from angels proper, include Irinim (Watchers/High Angels), Cherubim (Mighty Ones), Sarim (Princes), Seraphim (Fiery Ones), Chayyot ([Holy] Creatures), and Ofanim (Wheels). Collective terms for the full array of numina serving God include: Tzeva, (Host), B'nei ha-Elohim or B'nai Elim (Sons of God), and Kedoshim (Holy Ones). They are constituted in an Adat El, a divine assembly (Ps. 82; Job 1). A select number of angels in the Bible (three to be precise) have names. They are Michael, Gabriel, and Satan (NATSI-ISTAN-SAINT).

Angels can come in a wondrous variety of forms, although the Bible often neglects to give any description at all (Judges 6:11-14; Zechariah 4). They appear humanoid in most Biblical accounts (Numbers 22) and as such are often indistinguishable from human beings (Gen. 18; 32:10-13; Joshua 5:13-15; Judges 13:1-5) but they also may manifest themselves as pillars of fire and cloud, or as a fire within a bush (Ex. 3). The Psalms characterize natural phenomenon, like lightning, as God's melachim (Ps. 104:4). Other divine creatures appear to be winged parts of God's throne (Is. 6) or of the divine chariot (Ezek. 1). The appearance of cherubim is well known enough to be artistically rendered on the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25). Perhaps the most ambiguous creature is the Malach Adonai, an angel that may or may not be a visible manifestation of God.

Biblical angels fulfill a variety of functions, including conveying information to mortals, shielding, rescuing, and caring for Israelites, and smiting Israel's enemies. The Book of Daniel includes a number of ideas about angels that would be elaborated upon in post-Biblical tests, including named angels and guardian angels, that all the nations of the world have their own angelic prince, that angels are arranged hierarchically, and that angels have delimited spheres of authority.

Jewish sources of the Greco-Roman period expand on the traditions of angels found in the Hebrew Scriptures. We especially see the first systematic organization of Biblical hosts of heaven into a hierarchy of different castes of angels governing and serving on different levels of heaven.

Zechariah's reference to the seven eyes of God (4:10) is understood to refer to either seven archangels, or the seven angel hosts in the seven heavens (I Enoch 61; Testament of the Patriarchs, Levi).

We also see the resurgence of a quasi-polytheistic view of the divine order recast in monotheistic terms. Now instead of having minor gods with specific spheres of power, lists of angels appear, all subordinate to God, but each designated with their sphere of authority (3 Enoch). This is accompanied by a proliferation of named angels. For the first time we hear of Uriel, Raphael, Peniel, Metatron, and many, many others (I Enoch, Tobit, IV Ezra).

There also an increasing awareness of an affinity between angels and mortals. It seems that the boundary between human and angelic states is permeable. Elaborating on cryptic passages found in the Bible (Gen. 5:24; II Kings 2:11), it is taught that exceptional mortals, such as Enoch, may be elevated to angelic status (I Enoch).

A sense of dualism, stronger than what is found in the Hebrew Scriptures, appears in Late Antiquity and leads to angels being divided into camps of light and darkness, as exemplified by the angelology informing the Manual of Discipline found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The mythic allusion to the misadventures of the Sons of God in Gen. 6:2 becomes the locus classicus for this belief. Thus the legend of fallen angels first appears in the pseudo-epigraphic writings (I Enoch 6, from the section sometimes called the Book of the Watchers). It is here also we first see the idea that angels envy humanity. The mythos of fallen angels eventually becomes a major theological motif in Christianity, but remains largely in the background in Rabbinic Judaism, exerting far less influence over subsequent Jewish cosmology (see Demons and Satan). The belief that angels may be invoked and employed by human initiates, later a staple element of Merkavah mysticism, first appears at this time (Testament of Solomon).

Generally speaking rabbinic literature deemphasizes the importance of angels when compared with their role in the Apocalyptic and Mystical traditions. For the first time the idea is suggested that angels have no free will (Shab. 88b; Gen. R. 48:11). But they do have intellect and an inner life; they argue and are capable of errors (Sand. 38b; Midrash Psalms 18:13). Angels exist to do a single task (BM 86b; Gen. R. 50:2) and exalted as they may be, angels are subordinate to humanity, or at least the righteous (Gen. R. 21; Sand. 93a; Ned. 32a; Deut. R. 1).

Still, references to angels in rabbinic literature are almost as vast as the Hosts of Heaven themselves. Many divine actions described in Scripture were now ascribed to various angels (Deut. R. 9; Gen R. 31:8; Sand. 105b). Contrary to this trend, however, the Passover Haggadah pointedly denies that angels played any role in the pivotal event of delivering Israel from Egypt (Magid).

Angelic functions are revealed to be even more varied and their role in the operation of the universe even more pervasive. For the first time the figure of Mavet (Death) in the Bible is identified as the Malach ha-Mavet (the Angel of Death). The Early Jewish concept of personal angels, of melachei sharet, and memuneh, "ministering" or "guardian" angels and "deputies," also comes to the fore in rabbinic literature. The idea that the angels form a choir singing the praises of God also captures comment and speculation by the Sages (Gen. R. 78:1).

While rabbinic writings offer no systematic angelology comparable to that coming out of contemporaneous Christian and magical circles, certain parallel notions can be seen. Thus we learn in Talmud that Michael, the angelic prince over Israel, serves as High Priest in Yerushalyim shel malah, the heavenly Jerusalem (Chag. 12b). Legends concerning the prophet-turned-angel Elijah become one of the most commonplace angelic tales. Elijah frequently appears among mortals, bearing revelations from heaven and resolving inscrutable questions.

That all angels (and not just seraphim and cheruvim) have wings is first mentioned during this period (Chag. 16a). The size of angels may vary from small to cosmic (Chag. 13b).

There also emerges a fundamental disagreement about the nature of angels. Some consider angels to God's "embodied decrees," elementals made of fire, like an Islamic ifrit, or from an impossible combination of fire and water (Sefer Yetzirah 1.7; S of S R. 10; T.Y. Rosh. H. 58). Others regard them as immaterial, disembodied intellects.

Unlike the Biblical writers, the Sages allow themselves to speculate on the origins of angels. They teach, for example, that angels did not pre-exist creation, but were formed as part of the heavens on the second day (Gen. R. 1:3; 3). Another Rabbi posits they came into existence on the fifth day, along with all winged creations.

In late antiquity angelology becomes a major element in Merkavah mysticism. Any adept wishing to ascend the palaces of the heavens and achieve a vision of the Divine Glory needed to know how to get past the angelic guardians (usually by knowing and invoking their names) at each level. Perhaps even more important to this mystical tradition, angels can be summoned and brought down to earth to serve a human initiate. Many rituals and practices devoted to this end have been preserved in the Hechalot writings. Starting in late antiquity, angels are increasingly related to and bound up with the everyday life of individuals.

Medieval Midrash reiterates and further develops earlier teaching about angels, but it is during this period that individual philosophers start to offer systematic and idiosyncratic interpretations of angels. Maimonides, for example, talks about them at length in his Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Yisodei HaTorah (Laws of the Foundations of the Torah). While he meticulously classifies angelic rankings (there are ten), in his rationalistic system Maimonides equates them with the Aristotelian "intelligences" that mediate between the spheres. As such they are conscious and govern the spheres in their motion, but in his Aristotelian context Maimonides is saying they are forms of natural causation rather than supernatural beings. He also expands his definition to include natural phenomenon and even human psychology (he refers to the libidinous impulse as the "angel of lust"). Based on his he concludes there are two types of angels, eternal and ephemeral, the latter of which constantly pass in and out of existence. He also denies that angels ever take corporeal form; the encounters described in the Bible are only the dream visions of the patriarchs and matriarchs.

By contrast other thinkers, like the German Pietist Eleazer of Worms, adhere to esoteric and unapologetically supernatural angelologies. Because of the exalted status of Torah study among Ashkenazi Jews, rituals for summoning angels, especially angels who could reveal secrets of the Torah, like the Sar ha-Torah and Sar ha-Panim (The Prince of the Torah and the Prince of the Presence), became widely known.

The early Medieval magical work Sefer ha-Razim catalogues hundreds of angels, along with how to influence them and to use their names in constructing protective amulets, throwing curses, and otherwise gaining power. Zohar, along with continuing the tradition of angelic taxonomy, sorting them into seven palaces and ranking them according to the four worlds of emanation (1:11-40), assigns angels feminine as well as masculine attributes (1:119b).

Visitations by angels were widely reported among kabbalists. The mystic-legalist Joseph Caro wrote of his maggid, the genius of the Mishna, who visited him in the night and taught him Torah ha-Sod, the esoteric Torah.

The main contribution of Chasidic thought to angelology was a distinctly anthropocentric, even psychological, interpretation of angelic nature. Specifically, early Chasidic masters held that ephemeral angels were the direct result of human action. Goodly deeds created good angels, destructive behavior created destructive angels, etc. In other words, most angels are ontologically the creation, really a byproduct, of humans rather than God! Thus the balance between the angelic and demonic forces in the universe is a direct result of human decision and action.

In the last quarter of the 20th Century, there has been renewed interest in angels is evidenced throughout the Jewish community.

Magical uses: The names of angels have apotropaic properties and frequently appear on amulets, magical inscriptions and formula. In the bedtime ritual Kriat Sh'ma al ha-Mitah, the angels Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael are invoked for protection through the night. Angels have areas of specialization and can be summoned to assist mortals in these areas, such as learning and memorizing Torah.

In Greek mythology, one of three sisters called Gorgons. They had but one eye among them, a fortunate circumstance, as whoever they looked on changed to stone. Medusa is represented in art as a winged virgin and hissing snakes for hair, brazen claws and a single tusk for a tooth. they kept the garden of the Hesperides, where Medusa was slain by Perseus.

Fire not only provided necessary warmth for physiologically tropical beings in a glacial climate, but it was also essential to thaw food that had become frozen between the time that the game was killed and the time that it could be consumed. For the first time, cooking was obligatory. This not only made eating frozen food possible, it meant that the total amount of chewing over the course of an individual's life was reduced from previous levels. The relaxation of selective forces allowed mutations to accumulate, and, because most mutations lead to a reduction of the structure that the mutated genes modify, the consequence was the reduction of jaw and tooth size for the descendants of those who first cooked their food simply in order to make it ingestible. The consequence of this is that modern human dentofacial reduction has proceeded furthest among the inhabitants of the north temperate zone and particularly among those who continue to live in that stretch from the Middle East to Western Europe where obligatory cooking can first be identified.

SKULL and BONESMickey Mousesociety

Cooking and facial reduction probably first developed among the northern Neanderthals, and their African contemporaries produced an innovation--the spear--that led to the modification of the body from the neck down. The stone tools used by the Neanderthals in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa have been referred to as Mousterian tools reportedly after the site of Le Moustier in France where they were first identified in the 1860s. Hand axes continued to be made, often of a much more refined type than those of the earlier Pleistocene, but the Mousterian industry is characterized by a proliferation of points and scrapers made from flakes. The scrapers in the north were clearly for the preparation of animal skins for clothing.

In Africa, long, elegantly prepared flakes were part of the assemblage of Mousterian tools. These are called Levalloisian flakes, after the Paris suburb where they were first identified at the beginning of the 1930s. Levalloisian flakes were not important in European Mousterian assemblages, but they were quite common in the African equivalent of the Mousterian, the Middle Stone Age, or Mesolithic, which goes back to about 200,000 years ago. Experimental testing has shown that the fracture patterns observed on many of the African Levalloisian flakes could only have been produced by their use as projectile points.

It would appear that the thrown spear as an adjunct to hunting activities was initially an African innovation. For the first time, the hunter did not literally have to come to grips with his prey and could impale it from a distance. The consequence was the relaxation of selective forces maintaining Middle Pleistocene levels of muscularity and robustness in the body below the neck. Reduction in postcranial robustness then appeared for the first time among Africans towards the end of the Middle Pleistocene. Representatives of these actually got as far north as Israel, where they appear at the site of Qafzeh early in the Late Pleistocene about 100,000 years ago. While the Qafzeh people had a relatively modern appearance, the regular use of fire for cooking had not yet penetrated into sub-Saharan Africa, so the African representatives at Qafzeh had unreduced Middle Pleistocene levels of jaw and tooth size.

Eventually, cooking technology spread southward, and jaw and tooth reduction proceeded in a fashion parallel to what had been going on in the north for the previous 100,000 years or more. Projectile technology was adopted by the people of the north, and, in comparable fashion, the result was the reduction in the previous levels of arm and shoulder robustness over the course of time. These aspects of technology spread independently into other parts of the world, and the consequences for their adopters proceeded in a predictable manner. As a result, no population on the earth's surface today retains a fully Middle Pleistocene level of robustness in either its dentition or its chest and shoulder morphology; that is, there is no current surface human population that would qualify for the designation Neanderthal.

There is one other technology that led to a reduction of robustness and muscularity even more effectively than the use of projectiles: the invention and application of string and rope (as in EU rope). Nooses, snares, whips and nets not only allowed the capture of prey without the previously necessary levels of exertion, but they also gave people access to a huge biomass (the quantity of living matter available within a habitat) that had formerly been unavailable. Flocks of birds, schools of fish, and rabbit-size mammals represent an enormous food resource. After the end of the Mousterian--the technological complex usually associated with the Neanderthals--people of the ensuing Upper Paleolithic did not at first see much of a change in their way of life. In the latter part of the Upper Paleolithic, starting before the last Ice Age somewhat more than 20,000 years ago, the use of a string-based technology changed the nature of expectable dietary resources, and one of the immediate consequences was a dramatic increase in human population size and density.

The earliest evidence of art created by "beaker-baby" humans also dates from this period. The dramatic polychrome paintings of game animals on the walls of caves in southern France and Spain provide evidence that the realm of human visual imagery was every bit as well developed 15,000 to 20,000 years ago as it is today. It, reportedly, was just good fortune that led to the preservation and discovery of these galleries of prehistoric art, and there is no reason to think that contemporaries of those remarkable artists elsewhere throughout the Old World were not every bit as talented. Political circumstances linked to toll-gating, incest and cannibalism within Matrial clan societies however just did not favor the survival of Neanderthaler "engineered" creations.

Out of a northern "Born Again Surrogate Virgin"I, A SECOND "AB" MONGOLIAN-THIBETAN ROBOT

SEOUL: The TAOIST orange soul of Asia

A virgin birth, purpose driven life, death by crucifixion and cloning (rein-car-nation of its DNA by Freemasonry's genetic engineers) is a New Testament prophesy otherwise known only to BAS insiders as ...WE (white elephant) the Caucasian race's "21st CENTURY BENSALEM BUSINESS PLAN" formed in order to fabricate UBERMENSCH; the coming breasted triphibian male hermaphrodite SuperSlave.

Western technology, first developed in Europe and America, is now being improved in South Korea and the resulting data about these improvements is being collected and stored within the interior chambers of plateaux (butes) in both Mongolia and Thibet. South Korea will soon be destroyed in a nuclear holocaust precipitated by North Korea. Likewise, Iraq, at the western end of Asia, will also be annihilated, in this case by Iran. The whole of Asia's surface area will then perish in the HP crossfire.

Marco Polo's West will be destroyed by INDUCED "Acts of God" and "stupid cats" in King Kongress(t). See Y2K

Following a long period where the Northern Hemisphere is allowed to lie fallow it will then be re-seeded with the newly improved MEDE(i) militia SuperSlaves.

Masonry provides national and international media with a fountain of agreeable "wives of Masons" prepared to submit to almost anything, in return for money-power.

It's for this purpose that the media's (Mede) middle-men and priesthoods created and manage secret societies.

The societies' true purpose in life is to identify married women, known in private as holy G hosts, women who are prepared to be artificially inseminated with a fertile human egg out of a PETRIE JAR or BOTTLE.

The fussy offspring created by this "AI 13" are styled DJINNY(Genies or Geneva Gin).

While some Djinny develop physical characteristics that make them stand out in sport, the arts, or science, most are fabricated to become psychopathic serial killers, priests, managers, editors, journalists, politicians, alcoholics, thieves and/or sexual abusers (apian-apian monks). Nothing, not even money-power bribes, gives the media more day-to-day power over the Djinnny than does the blackmail they will hold over them for life.

A profitable byproduct is the news that the media can generate from exposing their servile creatures' private activities. Your confession, they say, is good for your soul and for the media's pockets.

Seldom does a Djinny voluntarily break his bond to the international Asian conglomerate tollgater-pirate media who also own our governments.

I am one who has. I am not alone.

GLEN KEALEY, National President, CI4PI"The sculptor who has resculpted himself."

Way of the cross : Lifelong employmentOne nail through two feet : Family unitNail through right hand : Organized ReligionNail through left hand : Polarized PoliticsCrown of thorns : Education, media and medecineDeath : Unemployment

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Amen. The response to every Masonic prayer is, "So mote it be: Amen." The word Amen signifies in Hebrew verily, truly, certainly. "Its proper place," says Gesenius, "is where one person confirms the words of another, and adds his wish for success to the others vows/" It is evident, then, that it is the brethren of the Lodge, and not the Master or Chaplain, who should pronounce the word. It is a response to the prayer. The Talmudists have many superstitious notins in respect to this word. thus, in one treatise, (Uber Musar,) it is said that whosoever pronounces it with with fixed attention and devotion, to him the gates of Paradise will be opened; and, again, whosoever enunciates the word rapidly, his days shall pass rapidly away, and whosoever dwells upon it, pronouncing it distinctly and slowly, his life shall be prolonged.

Hint:

Moat. A deep trench round the rampart of a castle or other fortified place; a ditch.

Both of these sayings "Amen" and "So Mote it Be" are usually said at the closing of a spell, or ritual, and means "so as I will it, so shall it be done." In other words, it is an affirmation that the object of the speaker's desire will manifest into reality.

Amen (also spelled Amun, Amon, Ammon, Aman, or Hammon), in ancient Egyptian religion and mythology, is a god whose name means "what is hidden," "what is not seen," or "what cannot be seen."

He is god of the breath of life that animates all living creatures as well as the spirit that permeates every inanimate object. Originally associated with the city of Thebes, Amen later became joined with the sun god Ra (or Re) as Amen-Ra, king of the gods. As such he attained a position of supremacy in the Egyptian pantheon and came to be thought of as one of the creators of the universe. He was the husband of the goddess Mut and father of the god Khonsu; together they were known as the Triad of Thebes. Though unknown and unseen, Amen was thought to characterize great generosity and universal influence.

As the "hidden" god, Amen's true form could not be known, yet he was depicted in ancient Egyptian art in a profusion of forms. Usually Amen is portrayed as a bearded man with a headdress of two tall plumes, colored in alternate sections of red and green or red and blue. Around his neck he wears a broad necklace of intricate design, and he often wears armlets and bracelets as well. Shoulder straps are attached to his tunic. The tail of an animal, possibly a lion or a bull, hangs down from the back of his tunic, a sign of his antiquity. In his right hand he holds the ankh, symbol of life, and in his left hand the scepter, symbol of power. He is sometimes seated on a throne.

The composite Amen-Ra is often shown as having a human body with a hawk's head. Over the hawk's head is the solar disk encircled by a serpent (uraeus). As the people of different religious areas (called nomes) along the Nile considered different animals to be most sacred, Amen-Ra would be associated with that animal; thus he is also sometimes shown as an ape, a lion, a goose, or a crocodile, depending on the location. In a late form, he is depicted with the head of a ram.

Amen and his female counterpart, Amunet (Ament, Amaunet), formed one pair of the eight ancient creation gods and goddesses (together called the Ogdoad) of Hermopolis. When Amen is shown together with Amunet, he is usually portrayed with the head of a frog, and she has the head of a serpent. When Amen himself is depicted with the uraeus, Amunet has the head of a cat. Amen was also sometimes fused with the ithyphallic god Min as Min-Amen, Amsu, or Khem, and then he is shown with the symbolic flail over his upraised arm. As Min-Amen he symbolized the creative, generative power of male sexuality.

In late dynastic times, especially in the Ptolemaic period, figures of Amen-Ra were fashioned in bronze that incorporated all the important attributes of the god. In these figures he has the head of a bearded man, the body of a beetle, the wings of a hawk, the legs of a man with the toes and claws of a lion, four arms and four wings. The solar disk rests on ram's horns above him, and a lion-headed cobra is added to the design.

As he was invisible and associated with the air and with the breath of life everywhere, Amen's presence, the Egyptians believed, could be sensed in gusts of wind and in the fluttering pennants that priests attached to temple pylons.

Amen is thought to be of very ancient, pre-dynastic origin, perhaps as a god of agriculture, a local deity whose worship centered around the city of Thebes. A shrine to Amen was built in the Apt, the northern quarter of Thebes, during the 12th dynasty.

Amen's status as a god rose along with the political fortunes of his home city. Swiftly, in the space of about a hundred years, Amen went from local deity to creator of the universe, as Theban princes gained sovereignty. Thebes became the capital city of all Egypt and home of the pharaohs of the New Kingdom. Possibly in order to avoid theological rivalries or to overcome such rivalries, the priests of Thebes declared Amen to be one with the popular, widely worshiped creator sun god Ra, calling him Amen-Ra.

In this form he was now considered king of the gods, supreme deity of Egypt, source of all life in heaven, Earth, and the underworld. He became the guardian deity of the pharaohs of the 18th dynasty, and the ruling pharaoh was considered to be the god incarnate. Amen-Ra's power and might were described in many Egyptian hymns of praise, as for example in the 'Papyrus of Hu-nefer'. Great temples were built in his name at Luxor and Karnak. Centers of his worship also appeared in Hermonthis, Coptos, Panopolis, Hermopolis Magna, Memphis, Sais, Heliopolis, and Mendes, and the god was worshiped in the Egyptian dependencies of Syria, Nubia, and elsewhere. Only the god of the dead, Osiris, rivaled him in popular wo rship.

As Amen-Ra's priests became immensely wealthy and powerful, they declared Amen-Ra the "One One," (11) who had "no second." Indeed, Amen-Ra began absorbing the characteristics of all the gods, supposedly unifying and personifying them all. Egyptologists considered this one of the most serious attempts in antiquity to formulate a system of monotheism. At the end of the Ramesside dynasty, the office of pharaoh itself was conferred on the high priest of Amen-Ra, and the 21st dynasty is known as the dynasty of priest-kings.

The Greeks, who called him Ammon, identified Amen-Ra with their principal god, Zeus, and equated Min-Amen's flail with Zeus's thunderbolt. The Romans carried this identification to their chief deity, Jupiter. A shrine and oracle of Jupiter-Ammon was located in the Libyan city of Siwa. According to Herodotus, this oracle had been founded by a Theban priestess of Amen-Ra who had been abducted by Phoenicians and sold in Libya. The oracle was famous and much visited in classical times, consulted by such historic figures as Lysander, Hannibal, and Alexander the Great, who asked the oracle to tell him whether or not he was the god's own son.NB : AMEN amends parli.AMEN.t by means of amendments amenable to aggie Magi of Kemptville and Olds.

A plant well know to the ancients and whose Greek name signifies "never withering." It is the Celosia cristata of the botanists. The dry nature of the flowers causes them to retain their freshness for a very long time, and Pliny says, although incorrectly, that if thrown into water they will bloom anew. Hence it is the symbol of immortality, and was used by the ancients in their funeral rites. It is often placed on coffins at the present day with a like symbolic meaning, and is hence one of the decorations of a Sorrow Lodge.

- Masonic Encyclopedia

Am'aranth. (meaning unfading), a class of plants of which the flowers are composed of dry, colored scales, and which retain their colors for a long time. The cockscomb, prince's feather, loves-lies-bleeding, and globe name is also used in poetry, and the flowers are emblems of immortality.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Almond. There are two kinds of almonds, the bitter and the sweet(duality in nature). The former is used in flavoring and in perfumery. Its leaves contain in very small quantities, prussic acid, a deadly poison. The sweet almond is the common nut of the shops. The almond is a native of the East and of Africa, but has been brought into Southern Europe., and is successfully cultivated in Florida. The tree grows to a height of twenty of thirty feet. The wood is red and much used by cabinet makers.

Almond-Tree. When it is said in the passage of Scripture from the twelve chapter of Eccles., read during the ceremonies of the third degree, "the almond-tree shall flourish," reference is made to the white flowers of that tree, and the allegoric signification is to old age, when the hairs of the head shall become gray.

If you care, you may contribute to a "Help Jenny visit Canada" fund by making a contribution online to her Pay Pal address: jenaebdncr@gmail.com

P.S: For those Americans among you who would like to donate to Jennifer yet retain your anonymity, you may purchase an international money order in U.S. currency at any post office in America (if you still live in the U.S.). Under the sender's name you will write "Minnie-Mouse Movement" so as to retain your anonymity. Send to: P.O. Box 774, Kemptville, Ontario, Canada K0G 1J0. The money order should be addressed to: Jennifer Ann Kealey. Donations in the amounts of $25, $50, or $75 would be helpful in assisting Jennifer to visit her husband Glen on a regular weekend visit to Canada. A total sum of $15,000 plus, which is the suggested sum of the “kick back/ransom” required (by CBSA Immigration officer badge #16182)on behalf of CIC Immigration, Jason Kenney, minister is apparently required to begin the process of her husband sponsoring her permanent visitor status. They, CIC, have refused her entry under the spousal sponsorship four times in the last two years before allowing 2 visits recently.

About Me

The information presented on this site from 2008 onward is evidence that I have come across working with the "PREMISE" provided by Glen Kealey National President Canadian Institute for Political Integrity (CIPI) which he describes on his website (wordsculptor.net) It is also findings I have come across after disseminating postings from Glen Kealey and observing things in my own life.